History

A small loan and a big idea.

In 1911, William McCaffray Sr. wrote a letter to a friend he'd worked with in a Nevada gold mine. His letter outlined an idea for founding a canning operation in the Pacific Northwest and asked for a loan of $5,000 to get it started. The friend agreed, and the National Fruit Canning Company was established in Olympia, Washington on January 15, 1912.

Six years later, after recognizing the advantages of frozen food processing, McCaffray began cold-packing strawberries in 50-gallon wooden barrels.

By 1928, we had started freezing one-pound cups of strawberries—some of the earliest frozen retail packaging in the world. In the 1930s, we began freezing vegetables with one of the first freezing tunnels in the United States.

Throughout our history, two constants have defined us as a company: a dedication to continued improvement through innovation, and serving our customers with a generosity of spirit inspired by our founder.